…And then there were two. But wait, there can only be one, right? It’s true, only one winner out of 32 NFL teams emerges with the Lombardi Trophy, & the other teams go home. This year’s matchup features two of the NFL’s elite teams, as the NFC’s No. 1 seed Philadelphia Eagles take on the AFC’s No. 1 seed Kansas City Chiefs on the biggest stage next Sunday night. Both teams share 14-3 records and feature elite offenses & defenses that are entirely capable of taking control of the game at any given moment, so this will certainly be a fun contest to watch. Let’s dive in by examining & comparing the teams in terms of offense, defense, & special teams, following with a prediction from yours truly on who’s going to win the biggest game of the year.
Chiefs offense vs. Eagles offense
I’ve been dying to share this amazing statistic I found courtesy of FOX Sports NFL, which states that the offenses for both of these teams have scored exactly the same amount of points (546) as one another during the 2022 NFL season, & this number even includes playoffs! That’s wild to me, as it shows just how close these teams are to one another in terms of offense. Patrick Mahomes led an explosive Chiefs offense that put up 61 touchdowns & 7,032 offensive yards this year despite losing stud WR Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins in an offseason trade. He’s a clear-cut MVP candidate, as is his rival on the opposing sideline in this game, Jalen Hurts. Sportsnaut has Jalen Hurts as an MVP finalist after setting career highs in completion percentage (66.5), passing yards (3,701), passing TDs (22), rushing yards (760) & rushing TDs (13) in 2022. The Chiefs primary offensive strength is in their dynamic passing attack, while the Eagles rely primarily on a powerful running game setting up a strong aerial assault in order to win games. For these reasons, I give the slight edge towards the Eagles in this matchup, as my belief is that their ability to beat you in multiple ways makes them very difficult to defend while on defense.
Eagles defense vs. Chiefs defense
The Eagles defense needs just five more sacks in Super Bowl LVII to break the NFL’s all-time single season mark (including playoffs) for sacks in a season, which currently sits at 82. They had 70 sacks during the regular season & 8 during the playoffs for a total of 78 this season. We’re talking about putting them in the same elite company as the 1985 Chicago Bears defense. That Super Bowl-winning unit is regarded as the best defense ever, and they managed 80 sacks. Can you guess the team that was right behind them in terms of sacks during the regular season? That of course would be the Chiefs, who finished with 55 sacks on the year & 7 in the playoffs. Still, that’s a pretty lofty gap (16 sacks) between the two title contenders by defensive standards. There’s also a lofty gap between the two in terms of scoring defense, as the Eagles had the No. 7 scoring defense during the regular season (20.2 PPG) while the Chiefs had the No. 16 unit (21.7). Add these factors together, & it’s clear that the Eagles should receive the slight edge on defense.
Eagles special teams vs. Chiefs special teams
These teams are remarkably similar in so many ways, and this extends to special teams. Due to their offenses producing touchdowns at such efficient rates, these teams have rarely had to kick field goals, as both teams are amongst the league’s bottom in terms of field goals made. The Eagles made 22 kicks compared to the Chiefs 21, but the difference lies in their conversion percentage, with the Eagles owning an 88% conversion percentage compared to the Chiefs 75%. There is a clear difference in terms of extra-point conversion percentage as well, as the Chiefs finished in the bottom five teams (89.4%) while the Eagles finished middle of the pack (96.4%). The Chiefs advantage is probably in the punting game, where they lead the league in net punt yards average (45.6%) compared to the Eagles bottom-barrel net punt yards average (39.7%). These differences matter in determining the outcome of a game that I predict will be very close.
My prediction: Eagles over the Chiefs 35-31
The Sports Beacon 